Closure stop



July 2, 1957 H. READ 2,797,838

CLOSURE STOP Filed June '3. 1954 INVENTOR. LEONARD H. READ ATTORNEYUnited States Patent CLOSURE STOP Leonard H. Read, Hoxsie, R. I.

Application June 3, 1954, Serial No. 434,105

3 Claims. (Cl. 217-60) This invention relates to closure stops forhinged members and more particularly to improved supporting means for ahinged cover such as, a hatch cover, bulkhead box cover, automobilehood, record player cabinet cover and the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a superior hinged coversupporting means which will retain a cover in closed position, partiallyopened position or fully opened position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a superior hingedhatch cover supporting means which when the cover is closed does notprotrude below the level of the base of the hatch.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hinged hatchcover supporting means which will automatically close when stepped onwhen the hatch cover is in partially opened position.

And still another object of the present invention is to provide a hingedescape hatch cover supporting means which will permit a small child tomove the escape hatch cover from closed to open position.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent in part andbe pointed out in part in the following specification.

In the past hinged cover supporting means permitted covers to be held inopen or closed position and not in an intermediate position. When usedon a boat, the supporting means extended below the base of the hatch sothat the danger of head injury was always present.

The supporting means included a spring held leverage which requiredgreat strength to overcome when chang ing the position of the cover fromclosed to open position. This condition negatived the usefulness of anescape hatch for a child or injured person. The present inventionovercomes these undesirable limitations.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters refer tolike parts.

Figure l is a perspective view showing the new and improved closurestop.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the same.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view showing the new and improved closurestop with the hatch cover in closed position.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, showing the hatch cover inpartially opened position.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3, showing the hatch cover in fullyopened position.

The exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1through 5 is used in conjunction with the hinged cover of a bulkheadcomprising a box frame 11 to which a cover 12 is pivotally mounted bymeans of hinges 13 and 14.

Since the bulkhead shown herein i merely for the purpose of illustratingan embodiment of the invention, other structural details of the bulkheadnot essential to an understanding of the present invention are omitted.

The invention relates in particular to supporting means for the hingedcover 12, two such supporting means Patented July 2, 1957 beingprovided, as indicated generally at 16-16, each connected to the innerwall of the respective side of frame 11 by means of a bracket 15 and tothe underside of the cover 12 by means of a bracket 17 and eachcomprising a linkage embodying a relatively long lever arm 18 providedwith an elongated slot 20 in one end, a shorter lever arm 21 and twocoil springs 22 and 23.

The upper end of lever arm 18 is pivotally secured as at 24 to bracket17. The lower end of lever arm 21 is pivotally secured as at 25 tobracket 15. The opposite end of lever arm 21 is provided with a lug 26.Adjacent that end a stud 27 is fixed in the body of lever arm 21 and itextends beyond the body on either side so that one end of springs 22 and23 can be fixed to stud 27 on opposite sides of the lever arm 21. Theother end of springs 22 and 23 are fixed to a stud as at 24. Stud 27rides in elongated slot 20 pivotally uniting lever arm 18 with lever arm21 and constituting the fulcrum point of the linkage.

As shown in the drawing, the brackets 17 pivotally mounting lever arms18 at 24 are secured to the underside of the cover 12 adjacent the edgesof its opposite sides respectively and substantially to the rear ofmidway of its front and rear edges, while brackets 15 pivotally mountedlever arm 21 at 25 are fastened to the inner walls of the correspondingside panel of frame 11 of the bulkhead adjacent the upper forward endportions thereof. Thus, when the cover is in its normal closed position,as shown in Figure 3, lever arms 18 and 21 lie encased in the spaceabove the lower edge of frame 11 and the underside of cover 12.

The stud 27 of the fulcrum point being at its extreme limit in elongatedslot 20 produces maximum tension on springs 22, 23. On raising the cover12 as indicated in Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5, the short lever arms 21 of thelinkages swing upwardly carrying the studs 27 of the fulcrum pointsupwardly, while the long lever arms 18 remain almost parallel with thecover 12 thereby permitting the rounded edges of short lever arms 21 tocontact the underside of cover 12 and hold it in partially openedposition. Stud 27 of the fulcrum point is now located in the oppositeend of elongated slot 20. The springs 22, 23 are in minimum tensionposition. Metal plates 30 may be secured to cover 12 to provide tracksfor lever arms 21 to ride across.

Further movement of the cover upwardly draws lever arms 18, 21 into astraight line with lugs 26 abutting long lever arms 18, thereby limitingthe pivotal movement of short lever arms 21. The upward movement of thecover 12 merely causes short lever arms 21 to pivot around stud 27, thefulcrum point with the stud 27 remaining in the end of elongated slot 20and springs 22, 23 remaining in minimum tension position.

To close the cover 12, stud 27 at the fulcrum point must be manuallypushed to cause short lever arms 21 to pivot around point 25 liftinglugs 26 away from long lever arms 18 until the rounded surface of shortlever arms 21 contact plate 30. Further pressure on the cover will causestud 27 to ride the length of elongated slot 20, thereby tensioningsprings 22, 23 until the cover 12 engages frame 11, closing the hatch.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than thoseherein set forth without departing from the spirit and essentialcharacteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are,therefore, to be considered in all respect as illustrative and notrestrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalencyrange of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

What I claim is:

1. A closure stop for a cover hinged to a frame comprising a long leverarm and a short lever arm, means for pivotally mounting one end of saidlong lever arm and one end of said short lever arm to said cover andframe, respectively, said long lever arm having an elongated slot, meanson said short lever arm to pivotally engage said elongated slot andresilient means engaging said short lever arm to urge the free end ofsaid short lever arm toward the pivotal point of said long lever arm.

2. A closure stop for a cover hinged to a frame comprising a firstbracket-provided with a first stud, fastened to said cover, a secondbracket provided with a second stud, fastened to said frame, a longlever arm having an elongated slot in one end is pivotally mounted onits opposite end to said first stud, a short lever arm having a lug inone end is provided with a third stud fastened in and extending beyondOne side, said short lever arm is pivotally mounted on its opposite endto said second stud with said third stud engaging said elongated slotand resilient means interposed between said first and said third stud.

3. A closure stop for a cover hinged to a frame comprising a firstbracket provided with a first stud, fastened to said cover, a secondbracket provided with a second stud, fastened to said frame, a longlever arm having an elongated slot in one end is pivotally mounted onits opposite end to said first stud, a short lever arm having a lug inone end is provided with a third stud fastened in and extending beyondeither side, and is pivotally mounted on its opposite end to said secondstud with said third stud pivotally engaging said elongated slot and twocoil springs, one on either side of said long lever arm, fastened on oneend to said first stud and on the other end to said third stud.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS644,337 Seng Feb. 27, 1900 1,544,657 Langer July 7, 1925 2,254,088Peterson Aug. 26, 1941 2,358,561 Davis Sept. 19, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS345,929 Great Britian Mar. 23, 1931

